1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folded type portable radio communication apparatus, and more particularly to a folded type portable radio communication apparatus in which it is possible to communicate in the folded state.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable telephone apparatus is conventionally provided with a radio unit, a speech receiving section, a speech transmitting section, a key operation section composed of key buttons, and a display section for displaying data such as telephone numbers. In such a portable telephone apparatus of this type, because the positions of the speech receiving section and speech transmitting section are required to respectively correspond the positions of an ear and mouth of a user, the apparatus becomes large in size so that portability is very low.
For this reason, a conventional example of a folded type portable telephone apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 is provided. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional folded type portable telephone apparatus is composed of an upper housing 51, a lower housing 54 and a hinge section 57 which rotatably supports the upper housing 51 and the lower housing 54 to allow the development and the closing. A speech receiving section 52, a display section 53 and so on are provided on the upper housing 51, and a speech transmitting section 55, a key operation section 56 and so on are provided on the lower housing 54.
In such a folded type portable telephone apparatus, the upper and lower housings are folded in the carrying state to make the telephone small in size. In the using state, the upper and lower housing are developed into a direction shown by an arrow.
However, in such a folded type portable telephone apparatus, there is a problem in that the speech communication cannot be performed in the state in which the housings are not developed.
A portable telephone apparatus is described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 4-286444). In this reference, an additional function unit is installed in place of a battery cell case to allow exchange of signals between the telephone apparatus and the additional function unit so that the telephone apparatus can be operated based on the functions of the additional function unit.
In Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 5-292165), a portable radio communication apparatus is described. In this reference, a battery cell package is provided with an optional circuit and a connector for the circuit. The battery cell package is installed into the main body of the apparatus via the connector. At this time, power is supplied to the main body of the apparatus so that a basic function and an option function are realized. Thus, by changing the battery cell package, various functions are realized.
In Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 5-30166), a portable radio telephone apparatus is described. In this reference, a microphone flip section has a transparent panel window in a position corresponding to a display section of the main body of the apparatus. Thus, the viewing of the display section is enabled in the state in which the microphone flip section is closed.
In Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 8-265403) corresponding to a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/401,392, a portable telephone apparatus is described. In this reference, the portable telephone apparatus is composed of the main body of the apparatus having a concave portion on the side surface, a flip stand, an acoustic baffle, and a speaker. The flip stand is provided for the main body of the apparatus and is movable between a first position inside of the concave portion and a second position outside of the concave portion. When being positioned in the second position, the flip stand functions to support the main body toward an upper direction of the surface. The acoustic baffle is formed between the flip stand of the main body of the apparatus and the surface of the main body when it is positioned in the second position. The acoustic baffle has an inverse V-shape such that one end is opened. The speaker transfers acoustic energy into the acoustic baffle.
In Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 9-18555), a radio communication apparatus is described. In this reference, a vibrator or a battery cell package built in the vibrator is provided to be detachable from the radio communication apparatus. Thus, the information of call arrival is mechanically switched between vibration and sound.
However, even in any of the above references, the problem in that the speech communication cannot be performed in the state in which the housings are not opened developed is not solved.
The present invention is accomplished in view of the above problems. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved folded type portable radio communication apparatus which can solve the above-mentioned problems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a folded type portable radio communication apparatus in which communication can be performed in the closing state.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a folded type portable radio communication apparatus in which a plurality of speech receiving sections or speech transmitting sections can be automatically switched.
In order to achieve an aspect of the present invention, a folded type portable radio communication apparatus includes a first housing having a first speech receiving section on an inner surface thereof, a second housing having a first speech transmitting section on an inner surface thereof, a hinge section rotatably connecting the first housing and the second housing such that the first housing and the second housing are folded to oppose the inner surface of the first housing to the inner surface of the second housing, and a second speech receiving section and a second speech transmitting section provided on an outer surface of one of the first and second housings to allow communication in a folded state.
One of the first and second housings may further include a detachable battery cell package on whose outer surface the second speech transmitting section and the second speech receiving section are provided. Otherwise, the folded type portable radio communication apparatus may further include a display section used to display a data provided on the outer surface of one of the first and second housings.
Also, the folded type portable radio communication apparatus may further include a first key operation section provided on the inner surface of one of the first and second housings, and a second key operation section provided on the outer surface of one of the first and second housings. In this case, the second key operation section desirably includes at least one of an end key used to end a communication state, an originating key used to originate a call, and a response key used to respond to an arrived call.
When a first transmitting and receiving unit includes the first speech transmitting section and the first speech receiving section, and a second transmitting and receiving unit includes the second speech transmitting section and the second speech receiving section, an active transmitting and receiving unit may be switched between the first transmitting and receiving unit and the second transmitting and receiving unit in response to an operation of one of the first and second key operation sections.
Alternatively, the active transmitting and receiving unit may be switched between the first transmitting and receiving unit and the second transmitting and the receiving unit in response to an operation of one of the first key operation section and the response key.
Further, the first transmitting and receiving unit and the second transmitting and the receiving unit are reset to an initial state in response to the end key.
When a switch is provided on the inner surface of one of the first and second housings to indicate whether the first and second housings are folded, one of the first transmitting and receiving unit and the second transmitting and the receiving unit may be selected an active transmitting and receiving unit based on a state of the switch.
In order to achieve another aspect of the present invention, a folded type portable radio communication apparatus includes a first housing having a first speech receiving section on an inner surface thereof, and a second housing having a first speech transmitting section on an inner surface thereof, a first transmitting and receiving section including the first speech transmitting section and the first speech receiving section. A hinge section rotatably connects the first housing and the second housing such that the first housing and the second housing are folded to oppose the inner surface of the first housing to the inner surface of the second housing. A second transmitting and receiving section includes a second speech receiving section and a second speech transmitting section provided on an outer surface of one of the first and second housings to allow communication in a folded state. A first key operation section is provided on the inner surface of one of the first and second housings, and a second key operation section is provided on the outer surface of the other of the first and second housings, and including at least one of an end key used to end a communication state, an originating key used to originate a call, and a response key used to respond to an arrived call.
One of the first and second housings may further include a detachable battery cell package on whose outer surface the second speech transmitting section and the second speech receiving section are provided. Also, the folded type portable radio communication apparatus may further include a display section used to display data provided on the outer surface of the other of the first and second housings.
In the folded type portable radio communication apparatus, an active transmitting and receiving unit may be switched between the first transmitting and receiving unit and the second transmitting and the receiving unit in response to an operation of one of the first and second key operation sections instead, the active transmitting and receiving unit may be switched between the first transmitting and receiving unit and the second transmitting and receiving unit in response to an operation of one of the first key operation section and the response key.
Further, the first transmitting and receiving unit and the second transmitting and the receiving unit may be reset to an initial state in response to the end key.
When a switch is provided on the inner surface of one of the first and second housings to indicate whether the first and second housings are folded, one of the first transmitting and receiving unit and the second transmitting and the receiving unit may be selected an active transmitting and receiving unit based on a state of the switch.